Joyce Dumont’s 73 Children: Foster Mom A Modern Day ‘Lady Who Lived In a Shoe’
Mother’s Day for Joyce Dumont and her 73 children reads like a modern-day fairytale. The North Dakota mom of over 70 kids — and counting — has spent a lifetime saying yes to those in crisis. Arguably, it makes Dumont a mom of the century, citing a report from People.
A touching story helped place this beloved woman in the spotlight. And many wonder why it took 73 children for Dumont to receive national recognition. The 79-year-old woman answered a knock at her door in Dunseight recently, as she’s done many times before.
Meet the North Dakota mom who raised 73 children http://t.co/2cQ8UipicQ pic.twitter.com/F9pVcHm18Q
— People magazine (@people) May 10, 2015
There, 16-year-old Garrett stood outside on the doorstep. And like she done many times over six decades, Joyce Dumont said yes to the teenager in need of a good home.
“This kid had spent his entire childhood raising his siblings – cooking and cleaning for them because his mom wasn’t there. He never got to be a kid, never got to go to school. How could I say no?”
As a former nurse, it was second nature for Dumont to care for others. Even challenged with space; her home is only equipped with two bedrooms, Joyce found a way to say yes to 73 children. Six are from birth, eight are adopted, 11 are her stepchildren and the remaining 48 are foster kids.
And as they do every year during her special day, all or most of her children get together and shower their mom with gifts and affection over a potluck lunch. Machipiness-Sandrick, 27, joined the family when he was only 5-years-old. At that point in his short life, he had spent time in several foster homes until meeting the woman he now calls mother.
“She’s the most loving and generous person you’ll ever meet. She gave me a home and changed my life, and for every one of us kids, it’s the same story.”
Among Joyce Dumont’s 73 children are kids who came mostly from abusive living arrangements. Since 1971, many have come from nearby, namely from the North Dakota Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.
“I moved into a housing unit in Dunseith with my then husband, and I started noticing all these kids who had no place to go. Their parents had problems with alcohol or were away all the time, so I started caring for them, and before long I had seven kids living with us, besides my own six. I just wanted them to feel safe and loved – something they hadn’t known.”
For what Joyce Dumont has done, perhaps a reality show is in order? Perhaps, 73 Children and Counting is appropriate?
[Photo via YouTube]
